Voter turnout: Options are needed to boost numbers

The old tongue-in-cheek phrase about Election Day goes “vote early and vote often.”

Nowadays in Pennsylvania, the saying could be more like “please, just vote.”

Voter turnout is a real problem in the commonwealth.

In the state’s primary on April 24, barely 20 percent of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot. While Tuesday’s election should raise that number with so many key races on the ballot, including president, the number of people expected to vote still will likely be smaller than turnout generally is in other democratic nations.

As we have emphasized before, we could do things to try to change that. When it comes to primary voting, Pennsylvania could join other states in supporting crossover voting among parties or, at a minimum, allowing independents to vote in either primary.

Either step would boost turnout instantly, especially because the state has a growing number of voters who don’t belong to either major political party. Another idea would be to move Election Day.

The notion of holding Election Day on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November comes, as do so many other dates on our American calendar, from our agrarian roots. It was a convenient time — after the harvest but before the winter. Farmers worked six days a week, so Saturday was out, and it didn’t seem appropriate to hold elections on Sunday. Tuesday was as fine a day as any.

Today, dozens of countries hold their elections on a Saturday or Sunday. Many more countries make Election Day a national holiday.

Asking businesses to add a holiday to their calendar would be difficult so a weekend day is the more feasible way to go. That could make a big difference for many voters strapped for time on a week day. Another option that is simpler to enact and still would give people more flexibility is early voting.

More states are opting for allowing people to either mail or vote in person for up to two weeks ahead of Election Day.

Although the initial successes of boosting turnout through early voting have been minimal, state officials say they believe the numbers will jump with this election because more voters understand the new system and see it value.

For any of these ideas to go forward, though, there must be buy-in from the two political parties, and even though they might deny it, there are a lot of reasons for them to keep the system just the way it is.

If fewer people vote, then the party organizations can have more influence — especially in primaries. Unfortunately the two parties have a tight hold over Pennsylvania politics.

Just ask any third-party candidate who has jumped through our state’s cumbersome hoops just to get on the ballot.

Voting is a critical part of our democratic system, and we should consider ways to make sure more people participate. Open primaries, weekend voting and, most of all, early voting should all be considered.